BreukelenMan

I'm going to Sevilla next month. Is a day-trip to Gibraltar worth the time? What's to do and see there?

walkinaround

it depends how long you are in sevilla. gibraltar is probably worth one visit...you should park your car in spain and walk in. you have to walk across a live airstrip that has railroad style baracades that go down when a plane is landing or taking off. a big british airways jet landed in front of us as we waited to cross.

the rock is nice to visit with the free running monkeys. other than that, there is not much to see in the city...ugly british architecture in "spain" doesn't seem right.

many people go there to go shopping as it has cheap goods and discount shopping for jewelry and alcohol is a little bit over represented in the city.

basingstoke

Although I might be one of the few who truly enjoys Gibralter, I think the drive from Sevilla is simply too long for a day trip. If you decide to go, take the advice of walkinaround and park in Spain. There is ample parking on the Spanish side. It can take up to an hour to get through customs back in to Spain by car.

rjsol

Gib is not worth a daytrip from S. Nothing to see or do except mentioned above. Overrated like Capri. (did I step one any toes now ?)

david_west

It's a bit harsh to say that there's nothing to do on Gibraltar - there's more than enough for a day.

Firstly it is Britain's biggest fortress and as such we pretty much hollowed it out and the tunnels and fortifications are well worth a look. There is also the natural St George's cave which again is worth a look. Walk up to the top along the old fortifications (via the Barbary Apes - who are very friendly and VERY larcenous (think scousers in furry coats).

There's plenty of British pubs and restaurants, and the high st is an odd bit of England in Spain (more accurately 1950s England in Spain)


So basically: Tunnels, caves, monkeys beer. What more could you want?

rjsol

It's all a matter of interests of course. Monkeys, not for me, caves and tunnells, go Rome catacombs instead, or caves near Mo, Nordland, up here. British Beer, OK if Newcastle Brown.

basingstoke

If you drive to Gibraltar from Seville, plan a minimum of 5 hours travel time. That is roundtrip, parking, and walking in from the Spanish side and back to your car. I like Gibraltar not only for its rock, cave, apes etc, but also for its interesting mix of people. Its culture is neither England nor Spain, but its own. That is what makes travel interesting for me.

BreukelenMan

thanks all for your comments about gibraltar. i'm not sure if it (or cadiz) is worth a visit. the fortress & tunnels sound interesting. as for british beer, i can get all i want here in brooklyn, ny (newcastle, bass, boddington, fullers, hobgoblin, etc.)

PalQ

It's literally a big rock - the tail-less monkeys are the main attraction - the only monkeys in Europe. Can be aggressive if offering food - they sit all over the rock and come up to tourists expecting a hand out. I found Gibraltar a fascinating place to stay - not much to see, a nice walk along the rock but a weird weird place that seems lost in time.

abram

We found a four hour tour on the Gibraltar tourism website, and negotiated with a cab driver to take us on that tour when we were there on a cruise stop.

We enjoyed our day, but from Seville, I'd probably pick a day in jerez or Cadiz instead.

rjsol

If Gib remember you have to pay to see the monkeys. This rock is sort of "sacred" to the British, Brits would tend to think it's worthwhile, no matter what. Jerez is OK. My daugter, I haven't been there myself, prefers Puerto de Santa Maria to Cadiz.

laclaire

rjsol- the monkeys are free to see, unless you count what they steal from you as payment (in my case, a Twix bar).

Though Gibraltar is a rock, it is really a hole and not worth a day trip.

m_kingdom2

You're all (with a couple of exceptions) being terribly negative about it because it doesn't fit your (American) idea of "culture".

Cadiz as a daytrip is a waste of time unless you want to simply sit on a beach. I went there last year from Seville, and pleasant enough as it was, there was nothing of interest to me, save a walk by the sea.

Gib is moving forward - the new Taylor Woodrow marina development is an example of this. The shops there are lousy unless you want duty free goods, and shopping for those is hardly going to take up much of your time. The food is nothing spectacular. The scenery is interesting rather than "stunning".

I was there a few years ago for a week (I had to be there a week for reasons other than just being a break) and I didn't find myself terribly bored in that time. It has a sense of nostalgia, of having stopped evolving whilst the rest of the world has moved on (not that it's backward in a technological sense) as its existance is no longer really necessary i.e. it should just be another part of Spain, but it isn't, it's Britain. The Rock Hotel is a charming place that again is something that hasn't really progressed (no spa, no thalassotherapy etc.) but the service, and food is largely excellent. The rock itself is well worth a visit, you've great views over the sea, and some military fortifications too if that's your thing.

I'm not sure if it's worth having to travel five hours to get there by car, I'd simply spend the day in Seville and environs, but if you do go then you're experiencing something utterly different from mainland Spain, so you've got two different destinations out of one trip - think about that!

As for Capri being overrated, I'm not quite sure what you expect, it's small, picturesque, and has a couple of fabulous hotels. It's only a tiny island, people musn't expect too much from small places. Now Barcelona is utterly overrated in my opinion.

rjsol

Well this show we have different opinions, which we should have. If I had to chozze between Sevilla, Jerez, Cadiz, Gibraltar I'd go for S. I loved the small narrow streets, and managed to avoid McDonalds and Starbucks! Tje Alcázar is well worth a visit, La Giralda too.